A Fascinating Journey through the Sociology of Dying
• Why we all need death education
• Death, Dying and Bereavement: a very short history
• Studies of Dying
• Mystical experiences near death
The whole series….
LECTURE 1 – The Value of Death Education: Death education is a major plank in the prevention, harm reduction, and early intervention strategies of any public health palliative care approach. This talk describes exactly how this is the case and why it is so important..
LECTURE 2 – Death, Dying and Bereavement: A Very Short History. An interesting and often humorous summary of the major demographic, epidemiological, and sociological changes that have shaped our experiences of death, dying and bereavement across some 1.5 million years of human history. It shows how personal experiences of dying, loss, and care are practically shaped by forces of economy and society
LECTURE 3 – How We Study Dying: Think you know how people die? Think again. What we understand about the human experience of dying is most often an artefact of who is studying the dying experience. Medical studies of dying can blindside other dimensions of this experience just as easily as military or gerontological studies. What happens to our understanding when we cross-compare these sources?
LECTURE 4 -The Meaning of Near-Death Experiences: A fascinating look into the mystical experiences associated with death such as deathbed visions, near-death experiences, or visions of the bereaved. How these are commonly under-recognized by healthcare staff with understanding often subject to stigma or dismissed with observations about religion or hallucination theory. Explore in this lecture why these stereotyped understandings are unhelpful for everyone.
